Description

Finest known, population six!

1909-11 T206 Piedmont Walter Johnson Portrait PSA Mint 9.
For over half a century, Walter Johnson endured a lonely existence
as the sole inhabitant of the 3,000 Strikeout Clubhouse until
Cardinals ace Bob Gibson became his first roommate in 1974. Though
Gibson may have matched Johnson's famous velocity, the Big Train
was a singular rarity in the dawning decades of the twentieth
century, striking fear into the hearts of even the most
accomplished and unflappable batsmen of the day.

"The first time I faced him, I watched him take that easy
windup," the legendary Ty Cobb recounted. "And then
something went past me that made me flinch. The thing just hissed
with danger. We couldn't tough him. Every one of us knew we'd met
the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park."

Three decades after that memorable first encounter, Cobb and
Johnson would join Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson as
the very first inductees of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The
presented example of his portrait card from the hobby's most adored
tobacco issue is only a hair less exclusive--one of only six to
achieve a Mint 9 rating from PSA, with none grading higher.

In order to provide the clearest context for this condition-rarity,
we report that only 280 T206 representations (at the time of this
writing) have ever garnered a grade of Mint 9 or better from PSA
from a full population of nearly 180,000. "Like new" trading cards
from the Dead Ball Era are rarely seen, and clearly the appeal
expands exponentially where pantheon players are concerned. Color
remains bright, registration magnificent, the image centered
perfectly between even borders and sharp corners. Clean Piedmont
back.